It took some convincing, but Chandra was sitting behind Jovi in the backseat of her mother's car. Neither of them approved of the idea of her visiting Vess Manor, but when it became clear to Pia Chandra wouldn't buckle, her mother insisted they drive her. It was a practical idea; she knew where the estate was, but she had no idea where to go on that huge piece of land.
The reason she wanted to go alone, was to avoid the awkward moment of the stop she insisted making on the way, which, once she got back into the car, prompted Jovi to say, "this is a really sweet idea, but I have to warn you, Liliana has never been especially fond of flowers."
Not wanting to go into the intricacies of her plain, she responded with, "can't hurt to try."
When they finally got to the property, Jovi directed Pia past eight separate entrances, only one of which Chandra could make sense of, making her suspect the rest were just the house flexing its size. The ninth way in was where Jovi pointed them to; if grand entrance was a term rich people used for the biggest way in to their acres of home, this had to be it.
A black barred, ajar gate was surrounded by an arch of old stone between two five metre pillars – each of which were topped with a statue of an angel looking up at the blade it held. If grand had a picture in the dictionary, it would be a photo of what loomed over Chandra as she stepped out of the car. For Jovi's benefit, she withheld a look of contempt.
Her stepfather pointed to a cobblestone path that was almost as wide as a city street and told her, "just follow that to the main house." If this was the road that would take her to the front door, it meant this was the entrance for the important people and Chandra was sure that meant this is where she wanted to be.
"Chandra," her mother called out from the car, "Don't do anything reckless."
"I'll see you guys later. Thanks for the ride." She was easily able to slide through the crack in the gate without squishing her bouquet and once she was in, she felt underwhelmed. Given the exterior, she expected an unlimited amount of lavish excess, but there were no fountains, gargoyles or weird naked statues. It was nothing but an unkempt lawn and a massive house in the distance. She found herself oddly offended by the barren grounds. If you're going to have all this space, you could at least use it for something. Given the context, she didn't mind the impossibility of pleasing her.
The walk took a while, but she was used to going from one end of her campus to the other, so it felt natural. As she got close enough for the house to fully take shape and expose its finer details, she finally saw a single statue that obstructed the front door; the closer she got, the more confident she was that she was on track and the more nervous she became.
Now nearly finished the trip, it became clear the statue was no match for the five meter entrance, though it was still what she was fixated on. While it wasn't anything close to the ludicrously large entrance, once she was next to the sculpture, the man depicted in it still loomed above her. After examining the face, reading the inscription on the plaque of the base was redundant.
For our son, Josu. The greatest man that never was. Chandra figured there had to be some kind of memorial to Liliana's brother, that it had to be publicso anyone could see it and it had to be on the path that guests of honour would take so she wasn't surprised that she found it.
Chandra needed a moment to take in the surreal moment of looking up at her bronze, dead step brother, but when she was ready, she got to her knees, laid the flowers at the statues feet and for the first time in her life, she prayed.
Hey, uhmm, I guess I'm kinda your sister. Immediately, Chandra felt as awkward and stupid as she dreaded on her long walk. But I guess you already knew that. She was under no impression that anyone could hear her. There wasn't a religious or spiritual bone in her, but Chandra told herself that, in case Josu Vess's soul was out there, he needed to hear this.
I know I've done some terrible things to Liliana and I'm not expecting forgiveness, but I want you to know you can relax now. I swear that from now on, I'll keep her safe and happy, whatever it takes. I wish you were here for her but she's my sister now too and I'm going take care of her for you.
She was surprised at how calm she felt, but still believing the prayer was nonsense, she realized this feeling of tranquility meant she needed to hear those words for her own benefit. Chandra's eyes opened to a world that looked a little clearer and for the first time, she felt at peace about her attraction to Liliana.
Chandra was never against the idea of being just friends with Liliana, or being her sister, but it was never what she wanted most and that plagued her with guilt and a little bit of resentment. These feelings aren't going to go away overnight. Hell, they might never go away. Maybe I'll fall in love with her, but that's okay. She's family now and that's more important than some silly crush.